Donald Trump continues to brag about the economy, and the media seems to agree with him. It is a good economy for the top 1% (and maybe even for the top 10%). But the bottom 90% ( the middle and working classes and the poor) are being left behind in this "good economy".
The charts on this page were found at Axios.com, and they paint a rather bleak picture of the economy for most Americans. Note the chart above. It shows that working and middle class wages have risen by about 15% in the last four years. But there's no cause for celebration. Inflation has eaten up more than that -- with housing rising by 26%, medical costs rising by 33%, and college costs rising by 45%. Most people, thanks to rising costs, are doing worse than they were during the Obama administration.
Will the economy do better, and help the middle and working classes? Not likely. The chart below shows the economy is slowing down. While the GDP had some robust growth in the first quarter (slightly over 3%), it dropped sharply in the second quarter (about 2.1%), and again in the third quarter (about 1.9%). Those are not the kind of numbers that make businesses want to raise wages.
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